Yesenia Ramdass Is Serving Caribbean-Inspired Vegan Eats at Healthy As A Motha

April 21, 2026

Yesenia Ramdass and her husband, Randy, are the brains and brawn behind HAAM, the Williamsburg restaurant serving plant-based Caribbean-inspired eats. They’ve been working towards their mission to provide “a sustainable and ethical food experience that caters to a diverse range of customers, including vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians” ever since. Read on to learn more…

***

At the age of 17, Yesenia Ramdass, who grew up in a meat and plant-eating Dominican-American family, read Skinny Bitch. “I immediately stopped eating all kinds of meat,” says Ramdass. “I started to wonder why I didn’t know about the connection between the consumption of animal products and our health. Most importantly, why my parents, aunts, and uncles, and everyone that I knew didn’t care. I realized it wasn’t because they didn’t care, it was because, as a culture, we weren’t educated about it.”

In order to remedy this, Ramdass started writing blog posts “to help educate and bring awareness on health, the planet, and more.” Blog posts led to short how-to YouTube videos of Ramdass making plant-based recipes. Then, in 2018, she lost her mother to cancer.

“My world shifted, my conscious journey went from a hobby…to a fire igniting inside of me,” remembers Ramdass. “I went fully vegan in 2018.”

When the pandemic hit, Ramdass, at home with her three kids, started posting about the dishes she cooked for them. Recipe requests and questions about how she got her children to eat plant-based food started pouring in. Her husband, Randy, suggested organizing a pop-up. They immediately sold out. “It was the first time I saw complete strangers having my food and absolutely loving it,” recalls Ramdass. 

Three weeks later, when Ramdass was laid off from work, she decided to fully immerse herself “in doing something for me.” In 2021, she signed a lease to a commercial kitchen and started organizing pop-ups. “My business exploded!” says Ramdass. After her social media following grew from 3,000 to 50,000 people by 2023, she opened her brick-and-mortar location.

Today, HAAM serves plant-based takes on Caribbean classics, including Curry Goat and Roti, Yuh Motha’s Mofongo, Oxtail Rice and Peas, and the Buss Up Shut Roti Plate—the latter of which The New Yorker described as containing a “kaleidoscopic riot of flavors.” Stop by to taste Ramdass’s cuisine for yourself or follow along on IG.